Was Bolton behind death of State Department official?

[harris8]

Latest Wayne Madsen article:

"In a case eerily reminiscent of the death of British Ministry of Defense bio-weapons expert, Dr. David Kelly, an official of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research Near East and South Asian division (INR/NESA), John J. Kokal, 58, was found dead in the late afternoon of November 7, 2003.

Police indicated he may have jumped from the roof of the State Department. Kokal's body was found at the bottom of a 20-foot window well, eight floors below the roof of the State Department headquarters, near the 23rd and D Street location. Kokal's death was briefly mentioned in a FOX News website story on November 8 but has been virtually overlooked by the major media. In light of recent revelations concerning UN ambassador nominee John Bolton's bizarre and physically abusive behavior, a re-examination of the Kokal death is in order.

Kokal's INR bureau was at the forefront of confronting claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Washington police have not ruled out homicide as the cause of his death. Kokal was not wearing either a jacket or shoes when his body was found. He lived with his wife in Arlington, Virginia."

...

Link: http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/042105Madsen/042105madsen.html

Archive of other Madsen article links: http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/index.php/Wayne_Madsen

[Boomer]

1. Nostalgic reminder of the good old days

Remember all those clumsy Soviets who fell through windows to their death several stories below?

Looks like we're developing the same syndrome here...

[RandomKoolzip]

2. Uh oh....

I remember this story....it was very spooky at the time.

However, I hope we don't develop the Clinton-era conservative disease where we immediately link any and all suspicious deaths to a politician we hate.

Having said that, I wish someone WOULD investigate this damn case. I remeber kicking threads about this myself back when it was getting reported on DU and nowhere else.

[justice4all_1]

4. Reminds me of the Vincent Foster rumors

I don't like reports that pile one assumption on upon another. The wacko rightwingnuts were good at that kind of garbage.

[seemslikeadream]

3. The suspicious fatal fall of Dr. Gus Weiss

The suspicious fatal fall from the Watergate complex of ex-CIA and NSC official Dr. Gus Weiss a few weeks after Kokal's similar death at the nearby State Department also merits investigation. Weiss, like Kokal, was adamantly opposed to the Iraq war and Weiss, uncharacteristically, went public with his protests.

Weiss worked in the office of Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson in the 1970s, along with Iraqi war architects Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz. He also served on the U.S. Intelligence Board under President Jimmy Carter and was considered a hawk during the Carter and Reagan administrations. However, in later years, Weiss broke ranks with his old neoconservative colleagues and came out against the Iraq misadventure.

INR and other State Department officials reported that a "chill" set in at the State Department following Kokal's defenestration. A number of employees were afraid to talk about the suspicious death. It also is unusual that The Northern Virginia Journal, a local Arlington newspaper, has not published an obituary notice on Kokal.
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/042105Madsen/042105madsen.html

[seemslikeadream]

5. JOHN BOLTON PUSHED NIGER-URANIUM FIASCO AT STATE

JOHN BOLTON PUSHED NIGER-URANIUM FIASCO AT STATE -- Then Tried to Hide his Tracks and Staff Lied to Congress

I just received this March 1, 2005 letter written by House Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman to Representative Christopher Shays who chairs the Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Security.

Waxman is basically blowing the whistle on the administration's extravagant use of "sensitive but unclassified" designations on official acts to block public access to and transparency of government policymaking.

On pages 5-7, Waxman reveals that John Bolton promulgated the Niger-Uranium fiction at the State Department despite rejection of this claim by State Department and CIA intelligence analysts.

Waxman then argues that not only did Bolton and his people then try and conceal Bolton's role in pushing the Niger-Uranium agenda by marking the material "sensitive but unclassified" and blocking it in case of a Freedom of Information Act request, the State Department actually LIED TO CONGRESS about John Bolton's role.

I think Senator Hagel might want to reconsider his support for the Bolton nomination now. . .

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/000370.html

Waxman letter

Concealment of a State Department Official's Role in the Niger Uranium Claim

In April 2004, the State Department used the designation "sensitive but unclassified" to conceal unclassified information about the role of John Bolton, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control, in the creation of a fact sheet distributed to the United Nations that falsely claimed Iraq had sought uranium from Niger.

On December 19, 2002, the State Department issued a fact sheet entitled "Illustrative Examples of Omissions from the Iraqi Declaration to the United Nations Security Council." (9) The fact sheet listed eight key areas in which the Bush Administration found fault with Iraq's weapons declaration to the United Nations on December 7, 2002. Under the heading "Nuclear Weapons," the fact sheet stated:

The Declaration ignores efforts to procure uranium from Niger.
Why is the Iraqi regime hiding their uranium procurement?

It was later discovered that this claim was based on fabricated documents. (10) In addition, both State Department intelligence officials and CIA officials reported that they had rejected the claim as unreliable. (11) As a result, it was unclear who within the State Department was involved in preparing the fact sheet.

On July 21, 2003, I wrote to Secretary of State Colin Powell, asking for an explanation of the role of John Bolton, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, in creating the document. (12) On September 25, 2003, the State Department responded with a definitive denial: "Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, John R. Bolton, did not play a role in the creation of this document." (13)

Subsequently, however, I joined six other members of the Government Reform Committee in requesting from the State Department Inspector General a copy of an unclassified "chronology" on how the fact sheet was developed. (14) This chronology described a meeting on December 18, 2002, between Secretary Powell, Mr. Bolton, and Richard Boucher, the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Public Affairs. According to this chronology, Mr. Boucher specifically asked Mr. Bolton "for help developing a response to Iraq's Dec 7 Declaration to the United Nations Security Council that could be used with the press. According to the chronology, which is phrased in the present tense, Mr. Bolton "agrees and tasks the Bureau of Nonproliferation," a subordinate office that reports directly to Mr. Bolton, to conduct the work.

This unclassified chronology also stated that on the next day, December 19, 2003, the Bureau of Nonproliferation "sends email with the fact sheet, 'Fact Sheet Iraq Declaration.doc.'" to Mr. Bolton's office (emphasis in original). A second e-mail was sent a few minutes later, and a third e-mail was sent about an hour after that. According to the chronology, each version "still includes Niger reference." Although Mr. Bolton may not have personally drafted the document, the chronology appears to indicate that

he ordered its creation and received updates on its development.

The Inspector General's chronology was marked "sensitive but unclassified." In addition, the letter transmitting the chronology stated that it "contains sensitive information, which may be protected from public release under the Freedom of Information Act" and requested that no "public release of this information" be made. (15) In fact, however, the chronology consisted of nothing more than a factual recitation of information on meetings, e-mails, and documents.

This is not a constructive reformer out to promote American interests in a dignified manner in the world's most significant multilateral institution.

There are many administration jobs that John Bolton may be completely appropriate for -- but the one that he has been nominated for is not on that list.




10 times he said Bolton tried to get names, Biden said State Dept. hasn't given them the info he wanted yet.

and there's this

Is Rice Obstructing the Bolton Investigation

cal04 (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-20-05 11:42 AM
Response to Original message

20. Is Rice Obstructing the Bolton Investigation

A very serious allegation buried in a story in today’s Washington Post:

On Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told her senior staff she was disappointed about the stream of allegations and said

she did not want any information coming out of the department that could adversely affect the nomination,

said officials speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The committee released 25 pages of responses yesterday to follow-up questions Bolton had been asked concerning allegations he was abusive to other officials in and out of the State Department, overreached on policy issues and mishandled intelligence. In several instances, Bolton did not directly respond to the questions or left them unaddressed.


Maybe a Plame connection?
more
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3519379

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. BOMBSHELL! THIS is why the Senate called a recess

and tried to cram his nomination through committee! They KNEW this was coming out! If I had a million bucks...I'd bet it on this being the case.

[Just Me]

10. Stunning how frequently these people engage in cover-ups!!!

The hide information, change information, manipulate information every single day.

It's insane that they have repeatedly gotten away with so dang many cover-ups!!! Just INSANE!!!! Nixon looks like an innocent, gullible choir boy compared to these fascists!!!

[in_cog_ni_to]

13. and they just thumb their noses at the Senate Dems.

They KNOW they have no power, so will do whatever the hell they want. Want info from the State Dept? Nope! Want info from the CIA? Nope! Want info from the FBI? Nope! Want info from the WH? Nope! Want info about Cheney's secret energy meetings? Nope! It's gonna take a revolution to stop this shit. :grr:

[leveymg]

6. Try to get past the hyperbolic headline. There's a story here, but it's

not about a murdered intelligence officer thrown bodily from the roof by an enraged Undersecretary of State.

It's about the killing of dissent within the Department by ranking Bush policy-makers. This might have been more credibly handled by Madsen if he had focused on how Bolton and others destroyed their subordinates who refused to go along with official lies about Iraq WMD. There are some interesting details about other, similar suicides by intelligence analysts who went against the Administration on Iraq. I'd like to see this story followed-up on.

The up-front intimation of murder, without any real evidence to back it up, detracts from what is really an important story.

:eyes:

[TR Fan]

9. Agreed. but can you point to one example of...

Madsen choosing NOT to take the most sensationalist position possible? Remember the $29M check?

[leveymg]

19. He's great at finding interesting leads, but his follow-through

and story framing could use a little polish.

He needs a good editor - that's not pejorative. We all do.

:bounce:

[Just Me]

11. How many would commit suicide based upon knowledge of facts,...

,...and actions by government officials which completely contradict both democratic principles and consitutional duties,...and which would push this country into a horrific and unnecessary war?

:shrug:

However, I remember when I first saw the story on this guy. I mean, c'mon, how many would take off their shoes before suiciding themselves? I just find it hard to believe this particular guy or the British scientist killed themselves because the circumstances are simply way too suspicious.

[Lone Pawn]

8. Was Clinton behind death of Vince Foster?

Come on, guys. Let's not cloud the real story with conspiracy bullshit.

[bloom]

12. Thanks for posting...

not that I expect it make any difference to most Republicans.

Chafee sure looked happy to have Voinovich speak out - too bad he couldn't speak out his own self. They are all such a bunch of chickens.


And to the people complaining about your thread title - it is the title of the article after all - sheesh.

[seafan]

14. I have never forgotten this strange story.

From the Online Journal piece by Madsen:

--snip

Another INR official, weapons expert Greg Thielmann, said he and INR were largely ignored by Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton and his deputy, David Wurmser, a pro-Likud neoconservative who recently became Vice President Dick Cheney's Middle East adviser. Kokal's former boss, the recently retired chief of INR, Carl W. Ford, later said that Bolton often exaggerated information to steer people in the wrong directions.

--snip

It is noteworthy that Bolton's ideological soul mate at the National Security Council (NSC), ex-Iran-Contra felon Elliot Abrams, has also been psychologically and physically abusive to his subordinates. Bolton and Abrams are long-time friends, having both helped devise the neoconservative game plan for U.S. global domination through their activities with the Project for a New American Century (PNAC).

According to a UPI report, Abrams once led CIA officer Ben Miller (who was on loan to the NSC from the agency) to an open window at the NSC and told him to jump. Abrams and Bolton share a mercurial and maniacal management style that includes physical threats against subordinates. While Bolton was demanding the firing of State Department and CIA personnel, including State Department analyst Christian Westermann and CIA officer Fulton Armstrong, Abrams fired Miller and two of his NSC colleagues, Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann.

--snip

A former INR employee revealed that some one-third to one-half of INR officials are either former CIA intelligence agents or are detailed from the agency. He also revealed it would have been impossible for Kokal to have gained entry to the roof on his own. INR occupies both a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) on the sixth floor that has no windows and a windowless structure on the roof that has neither windows nor access to the roof, according to the former official. The other windows at the State Department have been engineered to be shatter proof from terrorist bomb attacks and cannot be opened.

--snip

INR and other State Department officials reported that a "chill" set in at the State Department following Kokal's defenestration. A number of employees were afraid to talk about the suspicious death. It also is unusual that The Northern Virginia Journal, a local Arlington newspaper, has not published an obituary notice on Kokal.

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/042105Madsen/042105madsen.html

Sorry to post so much of this, but this really needs thorough investigation.

[in_cog_ni_to]

16. There's a 4 paragraph limit on postings from articles.

You should remove a couple of paragraphs before the mods tell you to.. :hi:

[seafan]

18. Thanks; followed your advice.

I removed the section on the similar and suspicious death of Dr. Gus Weiss.

This is all so creepy.

[Mandate My Ass]

17. Thielman got out the summer before IIRC

He gave a speech here a few months after Rathergate and his evidence was quite damning about what was going on at STate during the run-up to war. I wish 60 Minutes would reconsider and run the piece where he was interviewed because there was no buffer between him and Bolton.

[AngryAmish]

15. Bolton is a murderer

It is a proven fact.